HD33 - Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Pursuant to House Joint Resolution No. 134

  • Published: 1987
  • Author: General Assembly and Special Commission
  • Enabling Authority: House Joint Resolution 309 (Regular Session, 1985)

Executive Summary:
HISTORY

The 1985 Virginia General Assembly established, via House Joint Resolution No. 309, a Commission on Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders to determine the needs of Alzheimer's and other dementia victims and their families and to determine the feasibility of establishing regional dementia centers throughout the Commonwealth. The Commission submitted its report to the 1986 General Assembly, to which was appended its proposed legislation. Of the proposed legislation submitted, all were passed with the exception of House Bill 633, Establishment of Regional Dementia Centers; House Bill 635, the Alzheimer's Registry; and budget amendments. House Bill 633 and House Bill 635 were carried over in the House Committee on Appropriations to the 1987 Session of the General Assembly. The Commission was continued to the 1987 Session by House Joint Resolution No. 134. Following the adjournment of the 1986 General Assembly, Delegate V. Earl Dickinson of Mineral was appointed to replace Senator Benjamin J. Lambert, III of Richmond. Delegate Kenneth R. Plum of Reston and Senator Peter K. Babalas of Norfolk served as Chairman and Vice-Chairman, respectively.

Activities of the Commission

During the 1986 interim, the Commission met to review the status of its proposed legislation, to reevaluate House Bill 633 and House Bill 635 and to discuss the provisions of these bills with relevant state agency heads and state medical schools, to follow up on the implementation of its recommendations, and to determine the appropriate action to pursue relative to the needs of victims and caregivers which were not addressed during the first phase of the Commission's study. Following consultation with representatives of the Department of Education, Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, State Health Department, the State Council of Higher Education, the Virginia Community College System, the Board of Medicine, the Medical Society of Virginia, and the state medical schools, the Commission submits the following recommendations.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Commission recommends that a functional, multidimensional Alzheimer's Registry be established in the State Health Department, effective July 1, 1988.

2. The Commission recommends that the University of Virginia and the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation continue their joint pilot epidemiological study on Alzheimer's disease and release the findings of such study to the State Health Department upon the implementation of the Alzheimer's Registry.